A measured portion of a sample taken for analysis. One or more aliquots make up a sample. (See: duplicate.) (Source: Office of Communications, Education, and Media Relations: Terms of Environment: Glossary, Abbreviations, and Acronyms (Revised December 1997) Term Detail)

A portion of a sample. (Source: State of New Jersey: New Jersey Field Analysis Manual Term Detail)

Portion of a sample. (Source: Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water: A Dictionary of Technical and Legal Terms Related to Drinking Water Term Detail)

SYLLABICATION: al·i·quot PRONUNCIATION: ăl' ĭ-kwŏt', -kwət ADJECTIVE: Of, relating to, or denoting an exact divisor or factor of a quantity, especially of an integer. NOUN: An aliquot part. ETYMOLOGY: Latin aliquot, a number of, several : alius, some; see al-[sup]1[/sup] in Appendix I + quot, how many; see k[sup]w[/sup]o- in Appendix I.

Suggested Usage:

"I won't say that Noel Tungs' knowledge of Swedish is hard to measure, but it is just barely enough for an aliquot."

Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." -- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee

Unless you are a scientist doing experiments, particularly a chemist, the word aliquot needen't float your boat. As a chemistry lab instructor, I used the word. As a mathematics teacher I used the word. I never thought to insert it into a general conversation. Some words are just too technical for general use.